Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-04-21
AN oyERp NE BOON"
A san Frapcisce Journal Pricks the Southern
California Bubble of Land speculation
san Francisco Ar.ouaut

+ err states TO the counties of Los Angeles,
1 San Berdino and San Diego is eppar-
I ent. This stream has been large. eontin-
uohs, and is apparently siill unaSateP;
I 1t com posed of the better middle class of
/ Eastern people who having possessed
/ sufficient lntelligen 20 to accumulate for
themselves moderate fortunes, may
doubtless be intrusted with a change Of
residence AID an investment of their ac-
cumulations in a new land. The real
estate dealers OF the southern counties
are not 20 be hel6 accountable for the
speculation now raging IN town lots and
suburb lands, for il Is beyond the
| prudence and moderation of hur' an
nature not TO dispose of lands or stocks
or personal property to TIE excited ana
credulous when taey stand ciamorlng for
property at prices beyond its value.
I One can not blame the land and lot own
er who has waited long and patiently In
dull cities or uusnterprising towns, Ror
the owner of l1nJs unprodUetiye and usre-
mun6rative except 20 the expenditure
4 os capital and labor, when they embrace
SO good an opportunity 10 dispose Of
/ property as has been presented by the lu-
/ fux OF the greedy Eastern purchaser.
I These people are fairly tumbling over
! each ether ID their haste TO become own
/ ers of orange groves and vineyards in
Southern California. Scale bug and
/ phylloxera have no terrors for the East
I ern tourists; they drink of tho wine and
! eat Of the fruits withogS dread of pests;
/ TIE dream of the vine-slad cottage,
covered with roses, in q towering orange
grove. of orchards OF olive, flowing with
/ fat oils; Of pomegranatcs, with their
rich, fed fluid bursting from their green
sides. IL does not Occar To them that
! the raising OF fruit is attended with labor
/ and costly expenditures that orc can not
work and live upon pomegranates, oraH-
! ges and olive oil, nor upon climate and
! the Imagination, but that the stomach
OF the laboriuR man yearns after ham,
side-bacon and corned pork brought
| from TIE East: after coffee imported
\ froya South America; after tea raised
! in China or Japan; after sugar brought
from the Sandwich Islands and refined
4 by Sir Edward Steele; after -Four, pota-
/ toes, rice and corn; after elothes-fOr
even the soft and balmy climate of
/ Southern California renders clothing
\ comfortable at all seasons, and at times
lndis pensable; that dwellings, are re-
garded as necessary for people who have
/ been reared in the indulgence Of the
/ higher Injuries of civilization; that fences
are required for the Enclosure and protec-
/ ton of crops; that barns and corrals are
needed for the housing of stock; that, as
none of these things and the thousand
/ Other commodities n3ispensable for com
( fort can be raised in Southern Cali.
| fornia, they must be imported from
other lands, and must be paid for in such
products of Southern soil as can find
some broader market than the locality IN
which they are raised.
These considerations do not address
/ themselves to the men of great wealth
ana fixed income, who for his own health
and comfort, or for the pleasure of some
invalid loved one, leaves the yigorc Us
northern heme TO seek a softer and more
luxurious climate. To the man of for
tune who after a life OF labor, seeks re-
tiIement and ease for tbs enjoyment OF
his wealth, there is no more attractive
place in the world than California, nor
any in which the dolce far niente is en-
joyable with more Of ease and dignity.
To that class of Eastern people who come
TO California with moderate fortunes
seeking investment in lands upon which
their own labor is TO depend for their
future support and for the support OF
their families, there is no place in Cali
fOrnia which Is not better suited for them
than the counties named.
We are not now addressing ourselves "a
the wealthy OF the speculative; how the
rich spend their money does not concern
US; as to the manner in which the gamb-
Ter IN lands or mining stocks or at the
green cloth &C Iuires his money, we are
equally Indifferent. But when the farmer
OF Cook OF Carroll county, in Illinois
sells his farm OF rich and productive soil
worth $50 per acre for $45, aud purchase.
land in SOuther California at $500 pei
acre, or lot al Pasadena for $1,000 pei
trent foot, we think and we beg his
pardon for the frank expression of our
opinion-we think him most consummatc
ass, and when the time comes that De
shall wish himself back 1ron his ia. acres
In Illinois and IN the enjoyment of four
seasons, our sympathy will only be re
served for the wife and children whom
his folly and greed have robbed
An acquaintance made in a recent trir
through the Southern country informed
rs that in an interview with Mr.. +. J
Baldwin, of Los Angeles, Mr.. Baldwin
: stated that he owned $4,000 acres of land
and was willing TO dispose Of 1900 acre
upon the outlying borders Of his ranch
for 5000 per acre. Let us suppose tn,
farmer OF any of our Wes1ern State,
bordering the Northern lakes or tn,
Ohio. and lying in the great valley o
tho M.ssissippi-and their are no hap
. pier homes on Gods earth than there
selling mis- farm and stock for $25 600
great fortune for a western farmer:
comfortable fortune for any one VII,
works-and investing the half in liant
in southern California, and the othe
half in Improvements the word i'm
pr0yements embraces house, barns
3 fences, agricultural i'm Elements. prepare
tiOn for irrigation at SEQ an acr
there is water running with the Ian d
trees and vines for planting be woul,
End himself with q twenty fruit
farm which for thre. years would pro
duce nothing. and which would not b.
in full bearing Of olives, oranges, lemon
nuts, wine or raisius, or any other. re
muueratiye crop, in less than eigh
years. at the end gf tina eiyh